Auror Department Case Files
by Animeaddict56
Summary: When a series of murders arise in London, the best team in the Auror Department gets brought onto the case. But what happens when the team is made up of some of the youngest Aurors, who all have problems of their own? Can they solve the case before more bodies appear? Can they find the murderer and deal with their own personal drama at the same time?
1. The Best of the Best

**Disclaimer – I do not own Harry Potter.**

 **Note – This has no relation to any of my other stories. It was an idea that just kind of evolved in my head and I wanted to write it out. It's about three chapters long. I'll release the other two once I edit them. Maybe it's something I'll continue if you guys really like it and want me to. Anyways, read and enjoy.**

Auror Department Case Files

Chapter One: The Best of the Best

Cameras flashed as men walked around the living room of a rundown flat. While it wasn't the most glamourous of places, it looked worse with all the broken furniture, pieces of glass, and destruction that showed signs of a struggle.

In middle of it all laid a lifeless body. A young woman, no older than twenty-six, laid dead among the destruction. Blood stained her clothes, and was splattered across her face. There were deep gashes along her arms, two across her neck. And a deep, gruesome hole punctured through her stomach.

"Bloody hell," an older man mumbled as he looked at the scene. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, looking uncertain on what to do.

"Captain?" a younger man addressed hesitantly. He looked a little pale, as if he was going to be sick at the sight of the corpse and the torture.

The captain sighed heavily, as if the scene wore him down. "Call in the head of the Auror Department. Hell, call in their best." He couldn't help but stare at the blood that stained the carpet just above the woman's head.

It spelled out _MUDBLOOD_.

* * *

"You know, there are dozens of cases out there," Hugo Weasley commented from his desk. His brown hair was short, the ends curling slightly, just barely touching the tips of his ears. He was tall and lean, his legs sticking out into the main walkway.

"There have been threats to the Minister of Magic, and the muggle Prime Minister. There have been a few cases of disappearances, murders," Hugo continued to list. "But our team is never assigned to any of them, and do you know why?"

"Enlighten me," Albus Potter quipped as he continued to read the book in his hands. Albus was almost a carbon copy of his father. He'd even been _mistaken_ for the famous Harry Potter a few times. His almond-shaped green eyes were prominent behind his glasses, and his black hair was a mess, sticking up in the back.

Hugo crossed his arms. "It's because Dad and Uncle Harry are afraid of our mothers. So they refrain from putting us on the field as much."

Albus grinned, but didn't divert his attention from his book. "I can't blame them. Mum and Aunt Hermione can be downright terrifying when they're angry."

Hugo sighed. "I'd just rather be doing something other than consulting on other team cases. I prefer to be _doing_ something."

"Face it, Huey, they won't send us out until it's a real emergency, and really dangerous," Louis Weasley stated as he pulled up a chair to Hugo's desk. "It's the downfall to getting the best test results during our training years." Louis was definitely a Veela by blood, even if such a thing was rare. He had a perfectly structured face with beautiful features. His hair was thick, blonde, and wavy. There wasn't a woman that wasn't attracted to the lone male Veela of the Weasley family.

Hugo groaned. "What's the point of getting put on the top team of the department when we don't get to _do_ anything?"

"Because we are the best team, Father chooses to task us with the more top priority cases," Albus replied. "Thankfully, those kinds of cases aren't common. Really, you should be happy that violent crimes aren't a big trend. If you want more action, I'd suggest requesting a transfer to another team."

Hugo rolled his eyes. "As if Uncle Harry would actually move me to another team," he mumbled.

"Someone ordered a lunch from the Leaky Cauldron?" Scorpius Malfoy announced as he dropped a bag onto Albus's desk. Scorpius was just a bit shorter than Hugo, with a broad and strong body. He had short, honey blonde hair that was spiked up in the front, along with steel grey eyes. He and Albus had been best friends at Hogwarts, both being in Slytherin House together. They not only joined the Auror Department together, but also shared a flat as well.

"Thank you," Albus said gratefully as he set aside his book, and began to pull out his lunch.

Scorpius sat at his desk, which was next to Hugo's. "So, where's the rest of the team?"

"James and Brian are talking with Dad, and Lily was sent to handle an issue with the press in the Atrium," Albus explained before taking a large bite of his sandwich.

"I don't know how she can handle them that easily. Those reporters can be like vampires!" Louis said sympathetically.

"Hey, guys!" They all turned to see Brian Finnigan approaching them. His sandy-colored hair was a bit of a mess around his brow, his blue eyes shining brightly, despite the scowl on his face. Brian was the leader of their small team, despite only being 27-years-old.

Hugo sat up straight, eager. "Brian! Are they giving us a case?"

Brian just motioned for them to follow. "We have a team meeting with Head Auror Potter. Conference Room, now," he instructed.

* * *

The team was just getting situated in the conference room when the door opened, and in slipped Lily Potter. She was short, with a slender and feminine figure. Her hair was a vivid and dark red, and was pulled into a neat and simple ponytail, only her bangs loose and brushing above her brown eyes.

She sighed, her annoyance obvious to them. "I was able to get the press out, but you might want to tell Captain Wolfe that they're not going to go away for long," she mumbled as she took a seat between Louis and Scorpius.

"Thank you, Princess," Harry Potter said briefly. Lily almost rolled her eyes. Even though she was not only an Auror, but part of a specialized and skilled team in the department, he still called her _princess_.

"First off," Harry addressed the team, holding up a picture. It was of a young woman, pretty with brown hair. Her smile was bright as she laughed. "This is Jennifer Whitmore. A 25-year-old muggle-born witch. She's been working as a barmaid for the last two years. This morning she was found dead in her flat." Now he passed around a folder to each of them. They all pulled out their papers, and on top was the scene of her murder.

"Mudblood," Hugo muttered, glaring at the photo.

Scorpius sighed as he dropped his papers onto the table. "Another pureblood maniac," he commented. "Not that I'm not disgusted, but this seems almost too simple."

"There's one other thing," Harry assured. "This is the sixth murder. All of them have had the same message spelled out in blood above the bodies. Those scenes and reports are in your folders."

Lily flipped through them. "Six murders. While the message is the same, the torture methods are different. Are we sure it's only one person?"

"Look at Whitmore's flat," Louis pointed out. "All that damage, it's obvious there was a struggle. If there was more than one perpetrator, she wouldn't have been able to put up such a fight. This was a one-on-one fight."

"If this guy's pulled off six murders and has been leaving messages like that, why are we just hearing about it now?" James Potter questioned. According to Molly and Arthur Weasley, James looked exactly like the grandfather he was named after. And while he was known to play a prank or two, he had matured after becoming an Auror, and took his job seriously.

"This case was originally given to a small task force of hit wizards. But as you can tell by looking through the pictures, the forms of torture and the wounds have gotten more gruesome. And they have no leads, and feel they can no longer do this alone. While the public doesn't yet know about the 'mudblood' message at the murder sites, they're afraid of that information getting out. If it did, it'd cause a panic, as we all know. They want this case solved soon, and I agree with them," Brian explained.

Hugo looked over the pictures of the other murder scenes. "So, where do we start?"

"James, Louis, Albus, and I will be going to meet the leader of the hit wizard team that's on the case and to look over all of their files on the case. Scorpius, Hugo, and Lily, you go to the more recent crime scene. See what you can find," Brian instructed.

Lily raised a brow. "You don't want me with you? Shouldn't I go to tell their team how to deal with the media pressure?"

"Normally, yes," Brian agreed. "But we've been told that the media has been trying to swarm into the most recent crime scene, and are trying to get a look and get the information they aren't being given by the authorities. I need you to be there to deal with that. It's much more important."

She nodded. "Understood."

Brian looked at them all. "You have ten minutes to get ready before we Apparate."

* * *

Brian Sean Finnigan had always known that he wanted to be an Auror. It was never a question. Ever since he heard the story of how his mother, Lavender Finnigan, had been attacked by a horrible man and werewolf, Fenrir Greyback, he wanted to become someone who worked to stop those things from happening. Someone that stopped men like that from walking free. He had worked hard during his school years, striving to receive the best marks. He'd graduated from Hogwarts as top of his class, and immediately joined the Auror Department. He pushed through the training, never giving up, and never settling for anything less than fantastic.

And now that he was the captain of the best and most elite team in the Auror Department, he felt the same about his work. He was always pushing himself and his team to perfection.

"What do we know about this team of hit wizards?" Albus questioned softly as they walked into the headquarters of the hit wizards. "Are they an elite team? Or are we dealing with amateurs?"

"I've no clue," Brian admitted. "Your father never mentioned."

"Excuse me?"

The four men stopped as a young woman approached them. They ignored how her eyes obviously lingered heavily on Louis. Louis smiled politely at her. "Yes? What can we do for you?"

She blushed heavily under his smile. "Are you the Aurors that Captain Sterner is expecting?"

Louis nodded. "That would be us. At least, some of us. Can you take us to him?"

She nodded. "Of course! I'll take you to his office. My name is Leanne, by the way," she said in a flirtatious manner.

Louis smiled, giving his charm in full force. "Well it's lovely to meet you," he commented as they began to walk.

James elbowed his cousin. "No need to make her swoon when we're on the job," he joked quietly.

Louis chuckled softly. "What's the point of having good looks if you never use them?" he quipped.

They were then ushered into a small conference room, Leanne giving Louis a flirtatious wink before closing the door behind them. An older man stood before a large board with multiple pictures hanging from it. He turned at the sound of their arrival, and hurried around the table.

"You must be the Auror team Mr. Potter sent. I'm glad to have your help! I'm Stan Sterner, the captain on this case," he said as he shook their hands. He was a middle-aged man who was balding. He was portly, and dressed almost casual for a work day.

"We're happy to help," Brian insisted. "I'm Auror Brian Finnigan. These are Aurors Louis Weasley, and James and Albus Potter. The rest of our team is at the latest crime scene. One of them is our media specialist, so she'll be able to keep any information secret and away from the press."

Captain Sterner looked visibly relieved. "I'm glad to hear that. And when I can I meet your captain?"

"That would be myself," Brian spoke. "I'm the team leader."

Captain Sterner looked at him with wide eyes, but Brian stayed calm. This was always the reaction. "Oh! . . . Oh, I apologize. I just . . . well I expected someone older and more . . . experienced."

"Sir, Brian is the best," James spoke in defense. "You'll see that soon enough."

Captain Sterner gave a nod, although still looked a bit surprised and uncertain. "Yes, well, all the case files are here. This board here has all the pictures of the victims and their information. I've put them in order from the first victim to the latest. So far there are no connections between victims that stand out," he explained.

"Do you have pictures of the crime scenes?" Brian asked as the four Aurors moved around the table to look at the board.

"Uh, yes!" Captain Sterner said as he began to dig through one of the boxes. He pulled out a number of files. "These are all the pictures and notes taken while at the crime scenes."

"James, Louis, start looking through those. See if you find anything the normal eye would have missed," Brian instructed as he began looking at the victims. "Albus, can you start putting together a map? Include the victims' homes, murder sites, and for now, where they work. Once we figure out their routines, we might find out where they were when they were targeted by the murderer."

"On it," Albus said with a nod.

Brian scanned the first victim. "Maggie Reinhart. Why did he start with you?"

* * *

Scorpius, Lily, and Hugo arrived in Diagon Alley, and could easily see the number of reporters surrounding the outside of a building.

Lily sighed. "Ok, here's what I need you two to do. First off, say as little as possible. Just keep moving until you're inside the building. Second, if asked, you tell them we are just here to help consult. We are not taking this case into our hands. Saying so tells them that this case is more serious than they were told. We want to keep information secret, we can't let on the seriousness of the case," she instructed.

Scorpius nodded. "Ok. Anything else?"

"You only tell them that we so far know nothing about this case, or the victim. Again, insist that we are just consulting. This case is still in the hands of the hit wizards," Lily added. "We have to stress that."

"And what will you be doing?" Hugo inquired as they got closer to the crowd.

Lily straightened her posture, her heels clicking against the sidewalk. "I'm going to stall them so you can get inside and to the flat without them trying to follow you in."

As soon they made their way to the door, they were hounded with questions.

"Mr. Malfoy, is it true that the Auror Department is taking this case into their own hands?"

"We're just here to offer our help and to consult. This case is still in the hands of the hit wizards," Scorpius stated firmly.

"Mr. Weasley, is it true that these recent murders are due to a psychopath that lives here in Diagon Alley?"

"We have no information about this case yet. We're just here to offer advice," Hugo replied.

"Is it true that there could be more murders than the hit wizards know about?"

Lily turned as they reached the door, sending a knowing look to her partners, before looking to the reporters. "As of right now, our team of Aurors has no information concerning this case, the victims, or the suspect. We have only been asked here to look at the case, and offer any help and intel we can to the team of hit wizards heading this case. I can tell you that a press conference will be held concerning this case, but as of now the time and place has yet to be determined. That information will be released to everyone as soon as the hit wizards are ready to speak. That's all I can tell you as of now."

With a simple twist, Lily spun on her heels and walked into the building, ignoring all other questions and calls of her name. She found both Hugo and Scorpius waiting for her near a hall entrance.

Scorpius raised a brow. "That was quick. Go well?"

Lily sighed. "As good as it ever goes. Shall we?"

The three of them continued down the hall. "We're looking for 118," Hugo said as they walked.

"Not hard to find," Scorpius commented as they came to an open door with a number of people walking around. There was the occasional flash from a camera, and a quiet murmur of voices. They walked into the flat, and were immediately greeted by the scene they had seen photos of earlier. The body had been moved, but the outline remained, as did the blood surrounding it.

"Even more of a mess than the pictures showed," Hugo muttered as he looked around.

"It makes me think," Lily commented.

"About?" Scorpius questioned as he kneeled down by where the body once was.

"That this wasn't a struggle between two people," Lily thought aloud. "There had to be at least three people. And this wasn't caused by force. This was magic."

"Could be relevant," Hugo said with a nod as he examined the blood-written _MUDBLOOD_. Disgusted, he turned away and began to look around the kitchen area.

"Or extremely when you consider one important detail," Lily said as she began searching through a desk in the corner.

"Which is?" Hugo asked.

"Why has no one found her wand?"

Scorpius looked up to Lily, but she was flipping through a small book. "She has a point. There's been no sight of her wand. Think it could be consistent with the other murder victims?"

"Even if she's the first, it's something to keep in mind," Lily replied. "Because if she's the first, then why? What about her made them take her wand with them? If she's not the first, then why are they taking the wands in the first place?"

"Did Whitmore live alone?" Hugo asked.

"Yeah, it's a one room flat," Scorpius stated as he approached Lily, who was still flipping pages in a small notebook.

"No boyfriend?"

"None that was reported," Lily told him. "And neighbors don't recall seeing anyone ever come back to her flat with her. Why?"

Hugo waved them over, and pointed into the sink. "Two coffee mugs are sitting in here and haven't been washed."

Lily leaned against the counter. "Ok, so this could mean two things. Either Whitmore knew her murderer, and let him in…"

"Or we have another victim that we have yet to find," Scorpius finished with a heavy sigh. "This could be bad."

"What are the chances that another victim could have turned up in a missing persons?" Hugo wondered.

"Not likely. If there is another victim, this only happened last night," Scorpius mentioned. "It hasn't been long enough for someone to be considered missing. Plus, it was most likely an adult, seeing as it looks to be coffee they were drinking. Usually, an adult it less likely to be considered missing this quick."

"We need to know her routine," Hugo commented. "Any signs of a book of appointments, anything?"

"We're not likely to find one," Lily replied. "She was a barmaid that worked odd hours. Most I found was a book of addresses. No calendar, or schedule."

"Let's walk through this," Scorpius said as he began to walk to the door. "Now there was obviously a struggle. That means that the suspect couldn't have known her. If so, he would have been able to sneak behind her. There would be no struggle or mess."

"So he forced his way in with two people in the flat," Hugo added.

Scorpius stood at the door. "No, there is no damage to the door, which means he probably just unlocked it with magic. Simple enough. He opened the door…"

"Whitmore and her guest were already done with coffee," Lily said as she walked to the living area. "The mugs were already in the sink, waiting to be washed."

"The most damage was done to this room. Hardly any was done to the bedroom, none to the bathroom," Hugo added.

"So they were in here, maybe sitting at the couch," Scorpius said as he took out his wand. "His wand would be in hand."

"Both Whitmore and her guest would have stood up, surprised and maybe scared, at his entrance," Lily narrated as she stood where the couch looked to have been. "They wouldn't have their wands in their hands, because they weren't expecting an attack."

"He wouldn't want to kill Whitmore yet, so he most likely sent an easier spell at her, wanting to disable her from getting away," Scorpius thought. "But at that point, the other victim would have been able to get their wand and fire back at the assailant."

"This is shown by the scorch mark here by the door," Hugo pointed out. "They missed."

"But they would have given Whitmore time to grab her wand," Lily stated. "And it would give the attacker the chance to throw another spell."

"The couch went first," Scorpius picked up. "He blew it up, explaining the scattered and broken pieces that still remain of the couch. It would also leave Whitmore open to his sight."

"He doesn't care about this other victim, just Whitmore," Hugo murmured. "He knows she's a muggle-born witch, but nothing about the other victim. For all he knows, they could be a pureblood, and he doesn't want to harm a pureblood."

"Whitmore cares about this other victim, and tells them to run," Lily said as she walked to the hall. "So he does, and makes it to the bedroom and locks the door. But there are no windows in her room, giving them no ability to escape."

"He keeps his focus on Whitmore, she's the real target," Scorpius continued. "And they duel until he eventually disarms her. At that point . . . she's knocked out and most likely paralyzed. Then . . . then he goes back for the other victim. This person saw his face, and he can't have anyone catching him while he's on his crusade."

Lily looked down the hall. "He doesn't bother with unlocking the door, because the element of surprise has passed. He blows the door off its hinges. And somehow, he finds the victim, and is able to subdue them, possibly knock them unconscious too."

"Then he has time to do his work on Whitmore. Torturing her, killing her, and then leaving his bloody message," Hugo said. "But he has to take the other victim with him, because he cannot leave loose ends. He cannot be stopped."

Scorpius ran a hand through his hair as he thought through their narration. "But this attacker is interested only in ridding the world of muggle-borns. And he doesn't know this victim. So until he figures out this person's lineage, he will be kept alive. And if he finds that this victim is indeed a muggle-born, he will kill him. If he's not, we may just find this person alive."

* * *

"This guy is impulsive, not someone that will be easy to reason with. He's on a mission, but he's too eager," Louis stated as he looked over a dozen pictures of all the murder sites.

Brian looked away from the reports in front of him. "Why do you say that?"

Louis pushed a picture his way. "Look at all these scenes. None of them are clean, and I'm not talking about the blood. These rooms have been practically destroyed. In every murder, there was a struggle. He never surprised them enough to get them quickly and quietly," he explained.

"So he never took the time to scope his victims out, learn their routines and schedules," James added. "Impulsive. So he's most likely young, between the ages of 20 to 35."

"Let's go 17 to 35," Brian corrected. "I don't want to leave out the chance of a younger assailant. They are the most impulsive and eager to carry out their desires."

"He's getting use to murder," James mentioned. "Reports say that the first body had a lot of shallow and jagged cuts. That means he hesitated. But he's progressed. In latest victims, their cuts are clean and deep. The torture is also more brutal. His anger is taking over during these murders."

"Al, do we have a geographic profile?" Brian questioned.

"Nothing that will help us," Albus sighed. "These victims are too spread apart. They live in different parts of London, their works are spread out for the most part, and one even commutes out of London for work."

"Which means?" James questioned.

"It means that these victims have all gone to one place where he's seen them. Maybe a bar, a store, could be anything," Albus answered. " _Or_ , it could mean that he never saw them before, and they never saw him. He could have found out their blood status some other way, and targeted them because of it."

"Where could someone get information like that?" Louis demanded with a scowl.

"Most common are the ministry and hospitals," Brian replied. "But if that's the case, he'd have to work at one of those places."

"If he did get them from any of those places, it would make finding this guy a lot easier," James sighed

The door to the conference room opened, and Lily, Scorpius, and Hugo walked in. "What did you find?" Brian asked, still looking at the report on the first victim.

"We're fairly certain that the suspect kidnapped another victim after murdering Jennifer Whitmore," Lily stated.

This caught everyone's attention. "What?" Captain Sterner yelled, his eyes wide with horror.

"We found two recently used coffee mugs in the sink, unwashed," Hugo told them. "And the scene looked too disastrous to be done by only two people."

"And we found it unlikely that Whitmore knew the assailant, otherwise he would have disabled her without such a struggle," Scorpius finished.

Sterner dropped back into his seat, looking like he'd aged another five years. "So we have another dead body," he whispered.

"Maybe not," Scorpius replied as they came to sit. He pulled a chair out for Lily, who sat down silently. "This guy is only going after muggle-borns. And he obviously didn't stalk Whitmore beforehand, so he didn't know about her guest. So for all he knows right now, this other victim is a pureblood, and he doesn't want to kill a pureblood."

"So there's a chance this other person is still alive?" James mumbled.

"For now," Lily retorted. "If he finds out that they're a muggle-born, we'll soon find another body."

Brian groaned as he rubbed his eyes. "Ok, ok, let's start running with this. Hugo, go to the Ministry and talk to Minister Kingsley. See if there was any breach of records concerning blood status lately. If he has nothing, go talk to lower level workers, maybe even go talk to your mum. She might have heard something. Dig until you're sure there's nothing."

"Got it," Hugo said before getting up and leaving the room.

"Albus, I want you to go to St. Mungo's and ask the same questions. Find if they had a breach or a break-in," Brian instructed.

Albus nodded. "I'll let you know as soon as I find anything," he said before following Hugo out of the room.

"Louis, go to Whitmore's workplace. See if anyone there went home with her last night. Ask her coworkers and boss about her life, her routine, anything," Brian continued. "James, you and I will be going to Whitmore's building. We're going to talk to her neighbors, especially the one that found her body. Lily, I want you and Scorpius to investigate into the first victim, Maggie Reinhart. The first victim is always the most important, and we need to figure out why he started with her."

"I told the press we'd hold a conference," Lily spoke quickly, avoiding Scorpius's eyes. "Shouldn't I get Captain Sterner prepared for that?"

But Brian shook his head, much to her chagrin. "No, we don't have any information we can give them yet. We'll hold off on that. Right now, we need to figure out why he targeted Reinhart, and how."

Lily sighed heavily. "Ok. We'll come back when we have something," she mumbled. Then she stood up and walked out of the room.

Scorpius ran a hand over his face before following her. But Brian quickly spoke. "Scorpius?"

Scorpius turned to look at Brian. "Yeah?"

Brian scowled, looking curious and concern. "Is there a problem between you and Lily?"

There was the slightest pause before he shook his head. "No. No problem at all. We'll let you know what we find about Reinhart."


	2. Mixing Work and Life

**Disclaimer – I do not own Harry Potter.**

 **Note – So here's chapter two. I'll wrap this up with the next chapter. This idea is maybe something I'll continue writing, but I'm not sure yet. And I know some people have been surprised that I wrote a story with the Potter siblings on the same team. I figured I'd been writing the three of them fighting for so long, that it was time I wrote one where they fought together rather than against one another. Anyways, read and enjoy. And sorry about any editing mistakes I missed.**

Auror Department Case Files

Chapter Two: Mixing Work and Life

Albus hated hospitals, and he wasn't sure why. Perhaps it was something about the white walls and floors creeped him out. Maybe it was the long hallways that echoed your footsteps in the silence. Whatever it was, it made him hate hospitals.

Which was why he was doing all he could to hurry and get out. "Are you sure, Rose? Nothing out of the ordinary?"

His cousin, Rose "Weasley" Scamander, was a Healer at St. Mungo's. Albus always thought it fit her perfectly, as she was always healing cuts and bruises for him and James when they were kids in school. She looked so much like her mum with thick brown hair, although hers wasn't as curly. Her blue eyes shown in the bright lighting of the hospital. Albus was following her as she made her rounds.

"Al, I'm sure I would have heard of our files being broken into. In fact, our dads would have probably been told about it. Breaking into hospital files is kind of a big deal," Rose pointed out as she walked quickly down the hall.

Albus cringed at the sound of her shoes clicking and echoing off the walls. "Well, has anyone been acting strange lately? Maybe a low-level Healer? A desk clerk? Anything odd or suspicious. Maybe something you never even thought twice about or considered?"

Rose sighed as she stopped outside a door and seemed to think. "Truthfully, not that I can think of or remember. Thankfully things have been dull around here for the past week."

"What about the past month?" Albus insisted as he followed her through the door.

"Well things were a bit busy earlier in the month, but nothing unusual," Rose commented. She looked to her cousin. "No offense, but are you almost done? I have a few patients to check on for a colleague. He's out on vacation."

"Just one more question," Albus insisted. He opened the folder he was carrying, and pulled out a picture of each victim. "Have any of these people come here as patients? Have you treated any of them in the last two months or so?"

Rose sighed as she took the pictures and flipped through them. "Do I even want to know what happened to these people?"

"Not if you just ate lunch," Albus quipped.

Rose closed her eyes for a moment before passing the pictures back. "I don't remember seeing any of these people. I treat dozens of people in a day, let alone the amount I see in two months. But you should ask the front desk. They would have the records that would tell for sure if they've come in recently in the last month."

Albus nodded as he put the pictures back. "Ok. Thanks for your help, Rosie."

"Harry? Harry Potter!"

Both of them turned to see an older man stumbling their way. His hair was white, his face had aged heavily. He wore the outfit of a . . .

"How did I not see us walking into the mental ward?" Albus mumbled. But then he gave the man a charming smile. "I'm sorry, sir, but I'm not Harry Potter."

"Oh, Harry, don't kid," the man insisted. "No need to hide from me!" He nudged Rose. "We go back a long way, Harry and I. I was his professor once!"

Rose just subtley waved Albus off. "Of course, Mr. Lockhart. But we need you to get back to bed and rest. You haven't been feeling so good lately, and with your age we don't want it to get worse."

The man laughed as he let Rose lead him away. "My age! Why, a man in his thirties has nothing to worry about!"

Albus just shook his head as he hurried from the ward. Just another reason to hate hospitals.

* * *

"I vaguely recognize her," Lily stated as she looked at the picture of Maggie Reinhart. "She was a few years older than me, but I remember her from school. Do you?"

Scorpius looked at the picture too. "Not really. Then again, I never paid much attention to anything besides my classes and Quidditch," he replied.

Lily grinned. "Yeah, you were a bit of a nerd back then," she mocked.

He chuckled. "Like you're one to talk," he quipped.

She smiled, but it quickly dropped as she cleared her throat. Scorpius felt an immediate tension between them, one that made his own smile drop. "Well, I think this is the place."

Scorpius sighed. "This man's wife died almost a month ago, and we're about to bring this back into his life. It's not going to be easy."

"It never should be," Lily replied as she knocked on the door to the small house. They waited patiently until a man opened the door. His brown hair was unkempt, his grey eyes a little dull.

But he looked polite and curious at the two standing at his door. "Um, may I help you?" he asked.

"Are you Douglas Reinhart?" Scorpius asked.

The man nodded. "Yes, that's me."

Lily gave him a gentle and understanding look. "Mr. Reinhart, I'm Auror Potter, and this is Auror Malfoy. We've been brought into the case concerning you wife's murder, and we wondering if you could answer a few questions."

Douglas Reinhart's expression darkened. "If this is another way for you to try and assume that I killed my wife . . . !"

"Mr. Reinhart," Scorpius interrupted quickly, "it is nothing like that. We just have some questions concerning your wife. We need to know more about her in order to solve this case quicker, and anything you could tell us would help."

Reinhart sighed as he rubbed his face. But he stepped aside. "Ok. Come in, please." The two Aurors stepped in, and politely stood nearby. But Reinhart walked toward a couch, and began to clear off a table. "Please, sit down. Don't mind the mess, I've just been going over some paperwork. A day off is never really a day off."

They sat down, and Lily glanced around briefly. There were no pictures on the walls, nothing. But one picture of Maggie Reinhart sat on the mantle.

"Mr. Reinhart, I know this is difficult for you, I can only imagine," Scorpius stated. "That's why we want you to know that we are not lightly bringing this up for you to relive once again. But it is important that we know all that we can about your wife."

"Why?" Reinhart demanded in a tired voice.

"In a case like this . . . in the case of a serial killer," Lily replied, "the first victim is often the most important. And figuring out why this man started his spree with your wife could tell us a lot about him, and therefore help us catch him."

"What do you want to know?"

"Would you say your wife was routine? Did she do the same thing every day, or was she spontaneous?" Scorpius questioned.

"No, she lived by her routine. She had a rough work schedule, and she hated surprises," he answered.

"In the days, even weeks, leading up to her death . . . did she do anything different? Even something small, like going to a new store, doing something different at work, anything?" Lily inquired.

Reinhart sighed. "Um, we went to the Arrows Quidditch match. Her coworker had an extra set of tickets and invited us. Nothing odd happened that night, but like I said, we were always a pretty routine couple. Is that what you're looking for?"

"Possibly," Scorpius assured. "Now, did your wife ever talk about work? About what she was doing, her bosses, coworkers? Anything that stands out?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, she talked about work, but nothing important. Just normal everyday stuff."

"How often was she in contact with her family?" Scorpius asked.

Lily continued to look around as Scorpius asked a few more questions. Nothing about this little house seemed off. The reports said that Reinhart began renting this little home after the death of his wife, claiming that living in the same house as before was too painful for him. While the walls were bare of any pictures, there were the usual knickknacks on shelves and end tables. A vase of flowers near the corner. A shelf full of books…

Lily slowly stood up as something caught her eye. She walked toward the bookshelf, her eyes glued to one title. "Mr. Reinhart?" she addressed.

Scorpius looked at her curiously, but Reinhart still just looked tired. "Yes?"

Lily pulled a book from the shelf, looking at it closely. "When did you and your wife decide that you wanted to have children?"

Reinhart perked up a little with surprise. "Excuse me?"

Lily turned to the two men, showing them the book. "A book about pregnancies, what to expect, and the different trimesters and milestones. My cousin actually got this exact same book when she found she was pregnant. So, when did you two decide to start having children?"

A sad and brokenhearted look swept across Reinhart's face. "I'm not sure exactly . . . maybe a month or so before she. . ." he trailed off, unable to continue.

"And did you tell anyone?" Lily asked.

"I mean, _I_ told my parents, and a few of my friends that we were trying," Reinhart replied. "And she said she had told her parents, but I don't know if she told anyone else." Lily shared a knowing look with Scorpius. Reinhart looked confused as he looked back-and-forth between them. "Why? Is that important?"

Scorpius stood up as Lily put away the book. "It could be, but we're not sure yet. If you'll excuse us, we need to give this information to our team. But, if you don't mind, we may come back with a few more questions."

Reinhart scratched the back of his head as he stood up. "Um, I suppose so. I work out of my house most days, so I'll be here."

Lily gave him a smile. "Thank you, Mr. Reinhart. You've already been a great help to us. We'll find the person who did this."

They left the man to his thoughts and sorrow. Scorpius looked at Lily. "I think we should go to Maggie Reinhart's work. See if she _did_ tell anyone there."

"If the murderer found out that she was thinking of having a baby, it could have set him off," Lily mentioned.

"Enough to kill her?" Scorpius asked.

"I looked through the file. Her husband's a pureblood. The thought of a muggle-born 'tainting' a child that should be stay a pureblood in his eyes, it could have been enough," Lily thought out.

"You could be right."

The two of them walked in silence to the Apparation point, but Scorpius felt that tension again. He hated it. So once they stepped into the alleyway, he grabbed her arm to stop her from leaving. Lily jerked away, but looked at him curiously. "What?" she demanded softly.

Scorpius sighed, his heart thumping harder in his chest. "We need to talk," he murmured.

She turned away from him, crossing her arms over her chest. "No, I don't think we do."

"Lil, the team's not stupid. The captain was already asking me if something was up between us," Scorpius insisted.

Lily glanced over at him, but looked away again, pretending to find more interest in the brick wall behind him. "Just tell him it's nothing."

"I did, but how long can we get away with lying to them?" Scorpius pointed out. "Besides . . . I _want_ to talk about it."

"About what?" Lily demanded with a hiss, finally looking at him again. "What is there to talk about?"

Scorpius rolled his eyes at her stubborn attitude. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe just the fact that we had sex, and have been avoiding each other for a week since?" he mocked.

She glared at him. "There, we talked about it. Feel better?"

"What is your problem?" Scorpius demanded. "Do . . . do you regret it?"

Now she rolled her eyes. "Look, we were both drunk, and it was something that shouldn't have happened. But it did. And it's not that I regret it, but I would really rather forget about it, and get back to focusing on work. Like this case we're on, where six people have been killed, and another possibly kidnapped."

Scorpius gritted his teeth. "Do _not_ make me the bad guy here! I'm just trying to make it so that we're not avoiding each other anymore, and we _can_ get back to working like we used to! Because every time Brian has the two of us go somewhere together, _you_ try to get out of it!"

"Because why do we _always_ have to be together on this team?" Lily exclaimed with exasperation.

"Because we've always been a great team!" Scorpius retorted. "We got along, we got things done, and we've always been two great minds that connect the dots! That's why . . ."

They were both quiet after that, their minds both thinking of the same thing, thinking about the same night. Lily rubbed her arms, no longer looking defensive or irritated. But soft and . . . almost vulnerable. "Look, Scorpius . . . we need to focus on this case right now, and not ourselves. We have six, maybe seven victims, and people that are counting on us. So let's focus on them before we let them down, ok? Our issues are less important and can wait."

Scorpius ran a hand through his hair, but nodded. "Yeah, you're right. It can wait. I'll let Captain know that everything is fine."

* * *

"You never saw her bring anybody home?" Brian questioned as he sat on a horrid-looking floral patterned couch.

An elderly woman, Mrs. Tuttle, was Jennifer Whitmore's next door neighbor. She was a nice older lady, who had insisted Brian come in and take a moment to sit down since, "Being an Auror must be so taxing!" He'd lost the coin toss with James on who was allow to escape and talk to her other neighbor.

"Not really," Mrs. Tuttle answered as she came back in and set some tea down in front of him, pushing a cup his way. Brian took it with a polite smile. "Miss Whitmore never seemed like the social type. Although once a young man did knock on my door wondering where her door was. Said they had a date."

Brian sat up a bit straighter. "Really? Did he say his name?"

"Oh, I think so, but it was a few months ago. Henry, perhaps? I remember his last name was Tolliver," Mrs. Tuttle replied before sipping her tea.

"Could you give me a description of him?" Brian asked as he brought out a quill and pad. The quill floated from his hand, ready to write when she spoke.

Mrs. Tuttle gave her best description. She claimed the man was maybe in his twenties, with dark hair and green eyes. He had a beard that "really needed to be shaved," and was dressed nice with a polite smile.

"You know, I think I remember the two of them leaving together once," Mrs. Tuttle mentioned after giving her description. "I just figured it was another date."

"How long would you say that was after the first time he came to your door?" Brian inquired.

"Oh, probably a week or so after," Mrs. Tuttle replied with a smile. "Such a polite young man."

Brian took hold of his quill and pad. Then he took one more sip of his tea before smiling politely. "Thank you, Mrs. Tuttle, you've been a tremendous help. If we have any more questions, we'll come by."

After finally being able to step out of the flat and away from Mrs. Tuttle's overly friendly manner, Brian sighed and leaned against the wall near Whitmore's door. The woman had been right. This job _was_ taxing.

"Find anything?"

Brian turned his head to see James approaching him. "We have a name to look into. Last name is Tolliver, but she wasn't sure on his first name. She thought it was Henry, and was pretty sure it started with an H. You?"

"You got more than me," James sighed. "I talked to the guy that found her body. His story checks out, nothing that strikes me as odd or suspicious. So, do we start looking into this Tolliver guy?"

Brian rubbed his temples as he thought. "Let's head back to the department first. I had all the files and pictures transferred over there so we could work in our space. I'll send a Patronus to the others to let them know we're meeting back there."

* * *

"You're on a case now?"

Hugo sighed as he sat in the chair in front of his mother's desk. He knew this would happen. He knew he should have had Brian send someone else to do this part. But he didn't, and now here he was, sitting in Hermione Weasley's office, about to get a big lecture on his job.

"Yeah, Mum, we're on a case. As Aurors, it's kind of what we do," Hugo mocked dryly.

"But you're part of a specialized team," Hermione argued. "What case could be that bad? Is it dangerous?"

Hugo leaned his elbows on his knees. "It's classified, Mum, you know that. But if we catch this prick alive, you'll probably be the one we want to take the case and send him away," he said lightly, yet seriously. "But no, it's not that dangerous so far. It's just . . . it could cause a panic if certain information was leaked, so they wanted it solved as fast as possible. _That's_ why we're on the case."

But Hermione hardly looked reassured. "You're being safe, yes? All of you?"

Hugo groaned. "Yes, Mum, yes! We're safe, I promise! Now, can you tell me anything about what I came here for?"

His mother rolled her eyes. "Merlin, you're your father's son," she muttered. But then she sighed. "There hasn't been a breach. No files have been tampered with or gone missing. That would be a Ministry-wide problem if it had happened."

"No one in your department has been acting different in the last month?" Hugo asked.

"No."

Hugo crossed his arms as he began to think. "How else could someone figure out a person's blood status? How is the guy figuring this out?"

Hermione looked at her son with a fond expression. While she constantly worried about him and his job, especially since he was on the best team, putting him in the most danger, she was happy for him. He was doing what he loved and was proud of his work.

"Sweetheart, perhaps you and the team are missing the obvious," Hermione commented.

Hugo scowled. "The obvious?"

"Why did this person have to break into records to find that information out? What if he just asked? What if he knew them, but they didn't know him?"

Hugo's scowled deepened. "What do you mean?"

Hermione chuckled. "For example, did you know everyone when you were at school?"

"Of course not," Hugo scoffed. "As if I could remember the names of that many kids."

"But I'm sure there were people that knew who you were," Hermione pointed out. "Perhaps this is the same. Maybe he knows who they are, but they don't know him. Maybe he just asks around."

He thought about that, but then groaned. "I really hope you're wrong," he mumbled.

Hermione laughed lightly. "Why is that?" she teased.

But Hugo felt his spirits drop. "Because if you're right, then finding him could be more difficult than we'd hoped."

* * *

Night fell, but the team hardly noticed as they sat around the table in their conference room. A board took up the entire north wall, and it was covered with pictures, notes, a marked-up map, and crime scene photos.

There was a silence as they all seemed to be staring at the board and all the information it contained. Brian sat at the front of the table, staring at a picture that had been sketched, the name _Henry Tolliver_ written at the bottom.

James sat to his left, staring at a picture of the Whitmore crime scene, his hair a bigger mess than usual. And he was actually wearing his glasses, which he only wore if he was reading.

Hugo sat next to him, eating a small meal his mother had brought him, now that she knew they were on an important case. But he kept glancing at the board, his brow furrowing each time he did.

Lily sat on his other side, a cup of coffee in her hands. She continued to look at a picture of Maggie Reinhart, as if hoping it would give her some clue.

Scorpius sat as far away from Lily as possible, and was looking at a written list of names. Louis was half asleep at his right.

"Ok," Brian finally spoke, startling them all. Louis almost fell from his chair as he tried to straighten up and look more alert. "Let's go over what we found, and let's start with Maggie Reinhart. She is the most important."

"Coworkers claimed that Maggie Reinhart wasn't embarrassed or shy about the fact that she was a muggle-born. She was open about it, and about a lot of other things in her life," Lily commented.

"Six of her coworkers claimed that she told them she and her husband were trying for a baby," Scorpius said, pushing forward the list of names he'd been looking at. "This fact could have been the stressor that caused the murderer to begin his spree. The thought of muggle-borns and purebloods mixing was always frowned upon by old families before, and some are still raised with that thought."

"Her husband called them a _routine_ couple. They both had serious work schedules that allowed for little spontaneity," Lily sighed.

"That means that she rarely did anything different from her routine," Louis commented. "Yet the murderer couldn't have known that, because he was sloppy. He didn't get the jump on her, and actually had to force his way into the house. You could tell he was rushed, so he obviously didn't know that her husband wasn't usually home for another hour."

"But he most likely knew Maggie Reinhart in some capacity," James stated. "He knew her blood status, and he knew she was having a baby."

"Did any of her coworkers stand out?" Brian asked, looking between Lily and Scorpius.

"None of those that were still working there," Lily replied.

"But there were a few people that have left the company since her death. We were able to get a list. In the month since her death, eight people have either quit, or left to take another job opportunity," Scorpius mentioned as he dug through a file for another list. "Talking with her boss, he said none of their departures seemed strange, but we should still check on them."

"Ok, so we might have a lead on how he knew about Reinhart, but what about Whitmore? What about the other victims?" Brian questioned.

"I checked with the hospital," Albus stated. "Everyone I talked to said it would be impossible for there to be a break-in concerning their records and for it to go unnoticed. I was also given access to the victims' records, and they showed that none of them had been to the hospital in the last three months."

"I poked around all I could here, but like my Mum said, if there'd been tampering with records, the whole Ministry would know," Hugo added. "I don't think this guy got his hands on any records."

"He seems too sloppy and rushed to ever have the ability to get in and steal records with no one noticing," Lily sighed. "He has to be either asking around, or he knows them in some way."

"Whitmore's neighbors all said basically the same thing," James said. "She kept to herself, wasn't very social and didn't seem to have many visitors."

"Wait…" Louis spoke slowly, as if still thinking, "I think I might have something."

They all looked at him intently. "What?" Brian demanded.

Louis scowled as he seemed to think. "When I went to Whitmore's work, I talked with some of her coworkers and her boss. They all said she was friendly, albeit not overly social. But one mentioned that, like Reinhart, she wasn't quiet or shy about the fact that she was muggle-born. In fact, apparently a lot of her coworkers would sometimes ask her about muggle items or slang terms for fun. She was open about her blood status."

Albus adjusted his glasses. "So you think maybe this guy is only targeting muggle-borns that are open about their blood status?"

"It makes sense," James mumbled. "It would explain how he finds out their lineage without having things like medical records. Maybe we need to dig into the other victims, and see if they were open about it too."

"Whitmore worked as a barmaid at an inn," Scorpius thought out. He stood up to look at the map. "Al, which circles are their workplaces?"

"The blue pins and circles," Albus answered.

Scorpius scanned over them. "One of them works at a bookstore?"

"Yeah, that's . . ." James began shuffling through nearby papers. "It's Thomas Knick."

Scorpius pointed at the location, and then at another. "It's in the same neighborhood as the bar Whitmore worked at. Those two circles heavily interconnect. And it's possible that he could have overheard about Knick's lineage while he was there just buying or looking for a book."

"If you're right about that . . . then that neighborhood might be his comfort-zone. He might live there," Hugo said eagerly.

"I would bet that if we talked with those close to the victims, that they would all say that none of them hid the fact they were muggle-born. And if we dug into their activities leading up to their deaths, we could find a place where the murderer would run into them, even casually," Louis mentioned.

"We take any of those places, that neighborhood, and see if it connects to any of the people that recently left Reinhart's old company . . . we might just find our guy," James said with a grin.

Even Brian allowed a smile to overtake his lips. "We might have something here," he agreed. "But I don't think we're going to get much information at ten o'clock at night. Everyone go home, get some rest, and we attack this case first thing tomorrow morning."

* * *

James stretched as he walked down the hall to the door of his flat. While it'd only been a day, it felt like eternity since he'd been home. Already he could tell it'd been awhile since he'd been on a case with long nights.

He stepped inside and immediately kicked off his shoes and dropped his things near the door. The lights were dim, allowing him to see, although he was glad he'd left his glasses on. He wondered if his fiancée was asleep or not. He slowly crept down the hallway and opened the bedroom door, only to find her reading in her pajamas.

James had proposed to Charity Vickers after two years of dating, and never did he doubt that she was the woman for him. She was lovely with thick blonde hair that she constantly had up in a messy bun, and bright blue eyes. But he also loved her personality. She was fiery and passionate, especially about her work as a chef. At the same time she could be sweet and catered to him after a rough day. Really, a man couldn't ask for more.

Charity looked up at his entrance and smiled softly. "Hey. I was wondering if I'd see you at all today," she teased.

James chuckled as he slipped his glasses off, placing them on the dresser. "Sorry, I didn't think to send a note that I'd be home late." He began to pull off his shirt and dress for bed.

"Did you and the team go out for a drink again?" It was a ritual for them to go out once a week. A "team bonding" exercise, as he liked to call it.

"No, we've actually been working on a case all day," he replied as he slipped on his own pajama pants.

He turned around just in time to see a look of concern on Charity's face. "A case? But . . . you guys usually just consult and give advice for other cases. You're rarely _assigned_ one."

He sighed. This was a usual thing, not just for him and Charity, but everyone on the team and their families. "Honestly, we're basically consulting. This case isn't dangerous, they just want it solved quickly. So they put the best team in the mix to help," he explained softly as he came to sit next to her on the bed.

Charity set her book aside, still looking worried. "How long is this case going to last?"

James shrugged. "I'm not sure. Honestly, we've got a really good lead that we're following tomorrow, so hopefully that'll get somewhere." He paused, but then gave her an apologetic smile. "But for as long as the case continues, I probably won't be home until late."

Charity gave a small pout. "So what does that mean for this weekend?"

James scowled a little with confusion, uncertain on what she meant. But it clicked within seconds. "Right, right. Wedding stuff," he mumbled as he ran a hand through his hair. Then he sighed. "Is it possible to reschedule?"

"Not likely," Charity retorted, a hint of annoyance in her tone. "We had a lot planned. We were supposed to pick a cake, you had to pick up your dress robes, and we were going to meet with our mothers to go over the last few plans, plus having dinner with my parents to celebrate."

James groaned as he laid down on his back. "Well, I can always see if Ted could pick up my robes for me."

"And you'll leave me with everything else," Charity snapped.

James sighed again. He understood her irritation. This case was sudden and badly timed. She was usually understanding about his job, and he thought she was allowed to be pissed at it at least once, especially since it was interfering with their wedding plans.

"You know both of our mothers will gladly step in for me. Besides, they'd probably be better at picking out a cake than me. I eat anything," he joked weakly.

But she didn't see the humor, continuing to sit with her back to him.

Despite being terribly tired, James sat up and wrapped his arms around her. He placed a soft kiss on her shoulder. "I'm sorry," he murmured.

Charity sighed as she leaned into him. "Don't apologize," she mumbled. "I know it's not your fault." She turned her head to look at him and gave him a weak smile. "See if you can catch this guy before the weekend."

James chuckled. "I'll do what I can. I promise."

* * *

Lily smiled in the mirror as she ran a hand through her now dry hair. She felt so much better after a shower, so much more relaxed than she had been all day. She stretched as she stepped out of her bathroom.

She was about to just go to bed and potentially never get up when there was a sudden and urgent-sounding knock on her door. She glanced at the clock to see that it was just past eleven o'clock. Who was visiting her this late?

Lily opened the door, and felt like slamming it closed when she saw Scorpius standing in the hall. "Scorpius Malfoy, what the hell are you doing here?" He pushed past her to step inside her flat. "Please, come in," she mumbled.

She closed the door and turned to look at him. Her heart beat harder when she saw the determination in his expression. "Look, Lil, I went home wanting to just go to bed and wake up ready for work tomorrow. But I couldn't. And you wanna know why?"

Lily gulped. "Not really, no."

"All I could think about was our talk earlier, and what happened between us last week, and . . . and you," Scorpius murmured.

Lily avoided his eyes. "Scorpius . . ."

"No just listen," he interrupted. Then he stepped closer, and Lily felt her breath catch at how close he was with just that one step. But she felt frozen, unable to move away from him. "Lily . . . for as long as I've known you, I've always been drawn to you in some way. When we were kids, you were one of the guys and fun to hang out with. You were like the one girl I spent time with that knew what I was talking about when it came to Quidditch. We got older, and all I could notice was how attractive and beautiful you were. And now that we're on the same team . . . it's like I never stop thinking about you. When we split up on a case, I find myself worrying about you because I'm not there. I hate when other guys flirt with you, and love when you smile . . ."

Lily felt an almost unbearable heat in her cheeks. "Scorpius, relationships between Aurors aren't exactly accepted, and rarely work out," she whispered.

"Just because they're frowned upon doesn't mean it's not allowed," Scorpius argued softly. "Don't push me away with a weak excuse. If you don't feel the same way, then fine. I'll leave. But if you feel the same way I feel about you . . . then I beg you, don't push me out."

Lily felt her heart racing in her chest. The space between them seemed so small, and she felt a heat around them. "Scorpius."

He slowly leaned forward. "Push me away if you feel differently."

But she didn't push him away. Instead she let his lips brush hers in what started as a gentle kiss. It soon grew urgent and almost desperate. His lips were rough and hot against her own, and completely addicting. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer and keeping their kiss connected.

He wrapped his arms around her, one hand resting against the small of her back. Her small night shirt had risen, allowing skin-to-skin contact. His hand was hot against her, and it made her shiver with anticipation.

They both parted from the kiss, small pants passing their lips as they took in much needed air. Scorpius leaned his forehead gently against hers. "Do you want me to go?"

She hesitated for a moment, before shaking her head. "Stay."

* * *

Brian groaned as he finally stepped into his home. He dropped his things and slipped off his shoes. He felt so tired, his mind still spinning around facts, theories, and pictures of crime scenes and victims. He was ready to just fall asleep and forget about it all for a few hours.

As he walked quietly up the stairs, he paused outside the first door to his left. It was silent behind the door. He silently opened the door and practically tiptoed into the room. He smiled softly as the soft light from the hall revealed a sleeping, tiny boy with sandy brown hair. Gently, Brian leaned down to place a kiss on the boy's forehead.

He left the room just as quietly as he entered, and left the door opened slightly, just in case. Then he made his way to the master bedroom. He could hear muted sounds and footsteps from the bathroom. His wife probably getting ready for bed.

Brian sighed as he quickly pulled off his shirt and changed into his own pajamas. Then he promptly climbed into bed, closing his eyes, desperately wanting to sleep…

But he didn't. His mind was still spinning after the day. As if he couldn't stop thinking about it. He groaned quietly, trying to calm his mind, to clear it.

That was when he felt a gentle kiss press against his forehead. "Your case still on your mind?"

Brian smiled softly as he opened his eyes to find his wife sitting beside him. "How'd you know I'm on a case?"

She smiled. "It's the only reason you ever come home so late that you miss putting Sean to bed."

Lucy "Weasley" Finnigan had been his girlfriend since their fourth year at Hogwarts. They'd known each other a lot longer, since his parents were good friends with a few of her aunts and uncles. He'd always thought Lucy was uncommonly pretty with light, almost strawberry-blonde, red hair. The lightest freckles dusted her cheeks. His own mother, who had loved the idea of him and Lucy dating when they were teens, had always said Lucy was the perfect opposite for him, and kept him grounded.

And that was true. To where Brian admittedly could be a bit aloof, serious, and what his mother called a " _workaholic_ ," Lucy was sweet, gentle, and kind to everyone she met. She understood how important his job was to him, but was always there to remind him that he was a husband and a father too. When the horrors of his work would haunt him, she was there to take the nightmares away, no matter how temporarily.

His smile fell. "Does he notice?"

Lucy ran her hand through his hair, pushing it from his brow. "He always thinks you're out saving the world. He told me tonight that you were probably just fighting off twenty bad guys instead of ten," she said with a small laugh.

Brian chuckled as well, but then sighed. "I'll most likely be leaving early in the morning. Let him know that I won't be on the case long?"

She nodded. "Of course." She placed another kiss on his forehead. "Now don't think about it anymore. If you're going to get up early, you're going to need as much asleep as you can get."

He gave her a small smile before reaching up to kiss her gently. "I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too," she murmured.


	3. Secrets Revealed and Secrets Kept

**Disclaimer – I do not own Harry Potter.**

 **Note – A quick update, and the end of this particular story. Again, I'm not sure if I'll write more about this team of Aurors. I have some ideas, but I'm still on the fence on whether I should write them out. Anyways, read and enjoy. And sorry for any mistakes I missed.**

Auror Department Case Files

Chapter Three: Secrets Revealed and Secrets Kept

Albus yawned as he stepped out of the fireplace and into the Atrium of the ministry. He was never a morning person, and he didn't think he'd become one any time soon. It was the only bad part about his job. Early mornings became even earlier mornings when they were on a case.

He blinked a few times as he scratched the back of his head. As he began to make his way to the security check-in, he stopped at the sound of two familiar voices.

"It's not that bad, I promise."

"What would you know?"

Albus turned around to see Lily and Scorpius walking together. He almost laughed when he saw his sister. It wasn't just him that wasn't a morning person. _None_ of the Potter siblings were morning people. And it was obvious that Lily had woken up a little late. Normally she had her hair in a ponytail, and her outfit was "chic" as she called it, and neat. But today her hair was down in natural thick waves, almost a bit of a mess that was normal for the Potter kids. And something about her outfit said that it was something she threw on minutes before leaving her flat.

"Good morning, you two," Albus greeted with a small wave.

Both of his teammates looked his way, and he was a little confused by the nervousness he saw in his sister's eyes. But Scorpius gave him a smirk. "Morning, Al."

Lily gave him a small smile too. "Good morning, dear brother."

The three of them walked to the check-in together. "Late morning, Lil?" Albus inquired with a teasing grin. He gave his wand to the watch-wizard at the security check-in.

Lily stuck her tongue out at him. "Funny," she said mockingly. "I woke up a little later than usual."

"Lily! Al! Scorpius!"

The three of them all groaned at the sound of the voice calling their names. "Son of a bitch," Scorpius muttered as he took his wand back from the watch-wizard.

"We should let Rose know that I'm eventually going to make her a widow," Lily grumbled as she ran a hand through her hair. But then she sighed. "You guys go. I'll take care of him."

Both men gratefully took the chance she gave them, and hurried to the lifts. Albus looked to his best friend and roommate curiously. "So why didn't you come back home last night? I thought you just had to explain to your mum why you missed that family dinner she planned for last night."

Scorpius grinned, and while Albus could detect there was something secretive behind it, he couldn't tell what exactly that secret was. "Oh, you know my mum, Al. When I explained that I missed the dinner because of a case, she immediately began to worry and fuss over me. By the time I could convince her I would be fine, it was late enough that I figured I'd just sleep at the manor for the night, rather than risk waking you up. I know you need all the sleep you can get, Sleeping Beauty," he joked.

Albus chuckled, but sent a playful elbow to his friend. "Shove off. Not everyone can be so alert so early in the morning. I don't know how you do it, mate."

The two continued to joke as they made their way to the lifts, but Albus couldn't help but continue to study his friend. There was something he was hiding, there was no doubt about that. But what?

* * *

Lily stalked her way back to where a tall and thin blonde man was smiling broadly at her, his silvery grey eyes bright with excitement.

Lorcan Scamander. A crime reporter for the _Daily Prophet_ who constantly hounded Lily for information on the cases they consulted and worked on. He was also Rose's husband, making him her cousin-in-law, which he always brought up, hoping to get a leg up on the other reporters.

"Lorcan, what the hell are you doing here?" she demanded as she stopped in front of him. Lily was used to being short, especially compared to Lorcan's towering height. But she never let another person's height intimidate her, or let it make her seem small. She narrowed her eyes at him, conveying her annoyance.

But Lorcan was the kind of guy that never gave up, and always had a smile. Glass half full kind of guy. "Lily, my favorite cousin!"

"Cut to it," Lily cut him off.

Lorcan still smiled. "I heard from Rose that your team was on a case. What can you tell me?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Lorcan, when have I ever been able to tell you details on a case we're working on _while_ we're working on it?"

Lorcan gave her a sweet smile, his eyes pleading. "Come on, Lil! Just a little something?"

"We'll be having a press conference soon, wait until then," Lily argued.

"Just a little!" Lorcan insisted. "Can you at least tell me what the case is? No details, just what the case is!"

Lily let out a sound that was a mix between a sigh and a groan. It was obvious that she wasn't going to get rid of him without giving him _something_. "Ok, ok. We're investigating the murder of Jennifer Whitmore."

Lorcan's expression perked up. "I know that case! . . . Sort of. I talked to Captain Sterner when there were only three bodies. Since then though, he's been tightlipped about it." He looked at her intently, as he produced a notepad from his pocket, along with a quill. "What changed? Why the secrecy?"

Lily plucked the quill from his hand. "Nope, none of those. You're not quoting me."

Now Lorcan rolled his eyes as he took the quill back. "All right, fine. No quotes. But there has to be something you can tell me!"

Lily thought through all the facts quickly. "As of now, Whitmore is the sixth victim. We suspect this to be the work of only one man."

Lorcan's quill moved quickly. "Are the victims related in anyway?"

"Not in a way I can answer at this moment."

"Any theory on why this person has begun a killing spree?" Lorcan inquired.

"Again, not that I can say," Lily replied. "Look, you want to do something for me?"

Lorcan perked up. "What is it?"

Lily sighed. "I know what kind of story this would be for you. And . . . you're right, this a serial killer by definition. And when you come to the press conference, there will be more information given that will make this story even bigger. But . . . I just want you to do me a favor, and don't immortalize this guy."

Lorcan's brow furrowed in small confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean don't make the story about him," Lily requested. "This guy doesn't need the attention, and we have no idea how he would react to so much talk about this. So for now, just the give facts, and don't linger on the murderer. And for Merlin's sake, do _not_ give him a name."

Lorcan paused, taking her request in, but then nodded. "Ok. I'll do what I can." He hesitated, but then gave her a smile. "When the case is over, I might have another round of questions for you."

Lily rolled her eyes. "I'd expect nothing less from you," she mocked.

* * *

"Have you sent the request for the records of those employees from Reinhart's company?" Brian asked Hugo as he sat down at their conference table.

"They should be here within the hour," Hugo promised.

"Any word if we can get their records from the law department?" Brian inquired.

"Mum said she would see if any of them have a record," Hugo said with a nod.

Lily entered the room with the others, sighing heavily. "I'm not sure how much longer we can delay having a press conference. We need to make a decision on this." She took a seat between James and Scorpius.

Brian sighed too. "I don't want to do anything until we have a better idea about this guy. Because saying that we know too much could scare him into hiding. Or it could spur him on to kill more."

"Maybe we should at least tell the press about the murders. Keep out the fact that it has to do with blood status, and let them know how we think he's finding his victims, and breaking into their homes," Louis suggested.

"Do the normal and ask that anyone with information in connection with the case to come forward," James said with a small nod. "But I agree, we can't let on how much we know yet."

"I'll speak with Sterner and coach him on what to say and what information to give," Lily replied.

Brian nodded. "Ok. Then let's get started. We need to figure out more on the other victims. Lily, you go to Sterner and prepare him for the press conference. I'll get word out that we'll hold it at ten this morning. James, go and look into Hadley James, the third victim. Find out her activities leading up to her death, and if she was open about being a muggle-born. Louis, you take Richard Thames, and Scorpius, check into the fifth victim Leonard Mills. Remember, we're looking for ways the murderer could have run into the victims."

"I'll check in with my mum about criminal records," Hugo mentioned.

"We should look into whether or not the hit wizards ever found the wands of the other victims," Lily stated. "If he's taking trophies, then that could be significant, and also help us to easily convict this guy of the murders when we find him."

"I'll look into it," Albus replied.

"Then let's get started," Brian instructed. They all stood and left the room, but Brian stopped when he caught sight of Harry waiting patiently near Brian's own desk. "Sir, did you need something?"

Harry sighed as he handed Brian a file. "A body was found in Knockturn. And we're pretty sure it's part of your case."

Brian groaned lightly. "We suspected that there could be a seventh victim soon."

"Brian." Harry's voice was so serious that Brian stood up a bit straighter, almost feeling a bit nervous. "He did something different with this body . . . and it's not good. He may be devolving."

Brian scowled as he quickly opened the file. He stopped when the first thing he saw was the crime scene photo. It was of a young girl, no older than her mid-twenties. It looked like her body had been dropped roughly in the middle of the concrete. Blood stained her clothes and covered her body. There was no message in blood on the concrete next to her. Instead, a message was carved into her skin.

 _Filthy_.

* * *

"You can do this, Captain Sterner," Lily assured as they waited for the lift to reach the Atrium. Sterner had come to the ministry to meet with Lily about the press conference, which was now minutes away. And she could tell by the slight sheen of sweat that the older man was nervous.

"I've never actually had to do this," Sterner admitted. "Since I've been a captain, we've never had a case like this. I've talked to reporters before, but never a group this big. Two at the most."

"Just remember, you give them the details in a way that won't cause panic. You tell them only what they _need_ to know," Lily reminded.

Sterner gulped as the lift came to a stop. "Are you sure I should be the one doing this? Wouldn't you be better? You've done tons of these things. You specialize in dealing with these sharks," he rambled nervously.

Lily gave him a small smile. "It's your case. It's not our place to take it over."

Sterner took in a small breath. "But you'll be there if I start getting overwhelmed?"

She nodded. "I'll be right by your side."

The murmur of voices was loud as they approached the stage that had been set up for the press conference. Lily recognized quite a few faces. The regular journalists she saw at all the press conferences they held. There were a few civilians that were obviously there because they were concerned. And Lily even recognized a few ministry workers, such as her aunt Hermione and her cousin Molly.

Knowing that Captain Sterner was still incredibly nervous, Lily took the front of the stage first. She pointed her wand at her throat and murmured a spell to increase the volume of her voice to be heard by their audience. Then she spoke simply, but formally. "Good morning, everyone. We thank you for being here. I know there has been a lot of concern and worry due to the recent string of murders in wizarding community of London. Captain Sterner, the captain of the hit wizard team on the case and I are ready to speak to you all, and answer your questions. Captain?"

Lily stepped aside to let Captain Sterner take the center stage. Lily heard him clear his throat before enhancing the volume of his own voice. "Thank you, Miss Potter. First of all, my team and I do want to thank Miss Potter and the team of Aurors who have jumped on to help us with this case. With the great minds of their team working with us, we are confident that we will soon solve this case, and that no one will have to be afraid of this attacker anymore."

Sterner took in a quiet breath before looking out to the crowd again. "A month ago, my team was brought on to the scene of the murder of Maggie Reinhart. And as a lot of people have heard or reported on already, the room was a disaster, and showed signs of a struggle. Since then, we have five other victims, all by who we believe to be the same man."

A reporter immediately raised his hand. "Captain Sterner, does your team or the Aurors have any leads or suspects?"

"Both of our teams are currently following a few leads we have, but there is no official suspect as of yet," Captain Sterner answered.

"Doesn't the fact that you were in need of a team of Aurors insinuate that this case is much more serious than what the people had been led to believe?" a woman asked.

Captain Sterner looked to Lily, obviously uncertain of how to respond. So Lily stepped forward a little. "Any case involving a serial killer is brought before our department. And Captain Sterner personally requested my team to be the one to help him on his case." That was mostly true. Sterner had asked for the best in the department, which meant her team. But saying he wanted the best wasn't the greatest thing to say at the moment.

"So what are you doing to make sure we're safe?" an older woman demanded, obviously a concerned citizen.

"Both of our teams are working late into the night and early every morning to do everything we can to find this man," Captain Sterner assured.

A hand raised again, and Lily wasn't surprised to see that it was Lorcan. "How exactly is this person targeting his victims?"

Captain Sterner gulped, and glanced at Lily again. Lily answered calmly. "We believe that this man comes into contact with his victims by coincidence. Most of them were not people he knew personally. But we do believe that he may have known the first victim, and that's a lead our teams are looking into as we speak."

"So how do people protect themselves if this psycho is picking people at random?" a younger man called out.

"We ask that until this murderer is caught," Sterner stated, "that people remain alert. The reason he's able to overwhelm his victims is because they weren't expecting the attack. He surprised them, and took advantage of that. So remain alert. Lock all doors and windows. And keep your wands nearby."

Another hand rose. "Captain Sterner, any information about the other body they found this morning? Is it connected to the case?"

Lily could see the immediate surprise and panic in Sterner's eyes. She quickly spoke. "We believe it to be possible. We have someone investigating that now." Her own mind was racing. Another body? Had the other victim from Whitmore's murder finally been found? But she pushed that away. She knew that Brian was probably aware of this and was doing something about it. The important thing right now was to not panic or show that the two of them had been uninformed. But it was also obvious to her that she needed to wrap this up, as this news had startled Sterner.

"We have time for just a few more questions and comments for this press conference."

* * *

James pulled his wand out as he entered Knockturn Alley. There were more people around than usual, but that was probably because of the murder.

James, and probably the rest of the team, had received a Patronus about ten minutes ago. Another body had been found. He knew he'd reached the site of the body when he found a group being held back by what looked like a combination of Aurors and hit wizards.

James pushed his way through, giving a nod to one of the Aurors, and moved past them, where he found the whole team minus Louis waiting. "What's going on?"

Brian's face was expressionless, but James could see the seriousness in his eyes. "We'll wait until Louis gets here. You all need to see this. Things have changed."

Just then, Louis jogged through the crowd and approached them. "Sorry I'm late. I was trying to confirm something about Thames."

Brian just gave a nod. "Follow me," he instructed.

He led them further down the way, where streets had been cleared of all people. "This is already strange. A body in the street? He's usually never that impulsive," Hugo mentioned.

"We've been able to deduce that the body was only dropped here. The torture and murder were performed elsewhere," Brian informed them.

Then they came upon the body, and they all stared at it, unable to speak for a moment.

"Filthy," Lily whispered.

"It's the same work. Unorthodox torture methods, deep cuts, no wand," Brian listed.

"But the message is different," Albus stated.

"And she's not a muggle-born," Brian added.

They all looked to him in shock. "What?" James demanded.

Brian sighed. "Her name is Elena Rosier."

Scorpius looked at him sharply. "Is she related to Evan Rosier?"

"That's the strange part. She has the same last name, but we were unable to trace her to the Rosier family, because there's no father on the birth certificate. And her mother doesn't have the same last name as her," Brian told them.

"An illegitimate child," Scorpius stated with certainty.

Lily looked at him. "You're sure?"

"About 95%," Scorpius replied. "It wouldn't have looked good back then to have a child with a woman that your parents didn't pick for you to marry. Possibly just a one night stand that ended in a pregnancy. My guess is that, if it was Evan Rosier, he never knew about her before he died."

"But if she's a pureblood, then why did he kill her?" Louis demanded.

"She's not a pureblood," Brian replied. "We checked into her mother, and she was a muggle-born."

"So she's a half-blood," Albus murmured.

"And he found out . . . but why not kill the mother?" Louis wondered. "He's never killed someone that wasn't purely muggle-born."

"I have a theory," Scorpius suggested. When it came to topic of pureblood families, Scorpius was obviously their main source of information. "I don't think this message is just about her."

James scowled. "What do you mean?"

"He's always given them the . . . I guess the "dignity" of being killed in their own homes. But with her, he dropped her body here. He's trying to degrade her, by dropping her in the middle of a filthy road, by rundown and crumbling buildings. And look at the cuts on her body. They're longer and much deeper," he explained as he kneeled down by the body. "And she has multiple stab wounds in the chest and stomach. He was angry at her, furious. More than he has been with any of the other murders."

"So what do you think that means?" Hugo questioned.

Scorpius stood back up. "I think this was his girlfriend."

Brian looked at him sharply. "The murderer's?"

Scorpius shrugged. "It's a working theory, but it makes sense. He's a pureblood maniac, probably raised that way. And if we're right on the illegitimate child theory, then no one would think that a Rosier was anything less than a pureblood. He probably just assumed she was a pureblood, and she either never mentioned it, or never found it important."

"But he found out," Lily guessed.

" _He_ feels filthy for having associated with her, probably for having sex with her, maybe living with her," Scorpius said.

"So he kills her," Louis sighed.

"We got a file on her," Brian told them. "So if Scorpius is right, then we might have a solid lead. Her mother's been taken to the Auror Department for safety, in case she might be a target next. I think we need to go talk to her. Lily, Scorpius, and Albus, while we go to talk to her, I want you to go to Rosier's flat. See if you can find anything there. Maybe if she was murdered there."

"Got it."

* * *

Growing up with two older sisters had done wonders for Louis. You couldn't grow up with sisters like his and be a recluse. His friends often called him a social butterfly, a natural people-person. And you couldn't grow up with two sisters without learning to be a great listener, and how to gently break bad news to people.

But Louis sometimes hated that he was the best at those things, and sometimes wondered if he'd rather have Lily's skill of knowing how to deal with the press rather than people. Because he was always the one that had to speak with grieving families, sometimes even having to break the heartbreaking news of the death of their loved ones.

Louis smoothed out the wrinkles in his shirt as he approached Elena Rosier's mother, Bethany Mills. The rest of the team stood close by, but held back due to their own awkward feelings. None of them were particularly good with delicate matters such as this.

Tears were still sneaking past Mills's eyes, and there were tear stains still on her cheeks. Her eyes were rimmed pink with her heartache.

"Ms. Mills?" Louis addressed softly as he sat down next to her. She'd been brought to a small room, away from all the hustle and noise of the Auror Department. A room where she could be safe and still grieve for her only child.

Mills looked up to Louis, and he felt his heart ache for her. This poor woman. Her file stated she'd only ever had one child, and now that was gone. He couldn't even imagine how devastated she was. "Yes?" a rough whisper passed her lips.

Louis didn't give her a smile and hold her hand. None of that was going to make her feel better, he knew. But a few reassurances possibly could. "Ms. Mills, my name is Louis Weasley, and I'm one of the Aurors that are investigating your daughter's murder." Mills shuddered and more tears escaped at his words. "I want you to know that we're part of the best team in the Auror Department. And we will not rest until the person who did this is found."

Ms. Mills nodded, and let out a sob. "She was so young and full of life!" she cried. "Just last week, she was telling me about how she thought her boyfriend might propose to her soon! She was so excited at the idea of getting married!"

Louis glanced at the others near the door. They all had the same, tensed expression. Louis looked back to the crying woman, trying to seem calm and understanding. "Elena had a boyfriend?"

Ms. Mills nodded. "Yes. A nice young man. Names was Niles Travers. I'd only met him once or twice, but it was obvious that he was smitten with my little girl. So polite and sweet with her."

Louis paused, thinking of how he could tactfully get the information he needed, without letting on that they suspected this "polite and sweet man" of murder. Finally he spoke. "Ms. Mills, do you know where Niles lives? We'll need to talk to him about Elena, and possibly bring him here as well," he said vaguely as he handed her a handkerchief.

Ms. Mills dabbed at her eyes. "He and my daughter lived together." All the men looked at her sharply. "I didn't really approve of it, but she is . . . was an adult." She began to cry again.

Louis turned to look the others. Brian looked just as alert as the others. "We have to go there now!" James hissed. "We sent Lily, Al, and Scor there!"

"Do not make a scene," Brian whispered. "They can handle themselves. But you're right. We need to leave, soon. Send a Patronus to the others immediately."

* * *

"This is the place," Lily said as they stopped outside a door. Rosier's building resided in Diagon Alley, and after explaining the situation to the landlord, they were given a key to her flat.

Albus began to unlock the door. "Tell me, Lil. If this girl had a boyfriend, what would be the signs around her flat we'd look for?"

Lily and Scorpius avoided each other's eyes. Lily cleared her throat a little. "Small things. Flowers maybe. Pictures. Men's clothes, even an extra toothbrush could be a sign."

They stepped inside, and all covered their nose and mouths. Blood was everywhere. A large dark red stain covered a large area of the carpet in the middle of the room. Broken glass littered the floor around the blood.

"She was killed here," Scorpius stated the obvious as they walked in further.

"Let's look for signs of a boyfriend," Albus said, looking away from the blood. The smell almost made them want to gag. It was something you never got used to.

Lily headed for the bathroom. "Guys!" she called. "Two toothbrushes, male hair products, and a man's clothing."

"I've found some pictures!" Albus yelled back to her.

Lily continued to look around the bathroom when a clothes hamper caught her eye. Slowly, she began to pull clothes from the top. Another man's shirt, a pair of pants that were too big for a girl Rosier's size, boxers . . .

Lily hurried out of the bathroom and went to the bedroom. "Guys, come in here!" she yelled to the others.

Footsteps thundered down the hall as she began to comb through the only closet. "What is it?" Scorpius asked quickly.

Lily waved them over to the closet. "Look."

"Men clothing," Albus murmured.

"She and the boyfriend live together," Lily commented.

Scorpius looked around the rest of the room. "Then where the hell is this guy?" He began to dig through the drawers of a desk.

A rush of air sounded through the room, making them all jump and whirl around to the source of the sound. They relaxed at the sight of the Patronus in the form of a Bloodhound.

"James," Albus mumbled with a sigh of relief.

James's voice spoke from the Patronus. "Our suspect lives with Rosier. Niles Travers. We're on our way." The Patronus then began to fade away.

"Travers," Scorpius whispered. "I recognize that name."

"You know him?" Lily inquired.

But he shook his head. "Not personally. But I remember hearing the name Niles Travers. Had to be back when we were still in Hogwarts, though."

"We'll figure that out later," Albus replied. "We need to get an idea on where this guy is. Search the whole place."

Scorpius moved to dig through a dresser. Lily left the bedroom, intending to check out the murder scene more closely. But she stopped when she noticed a closed door. She hadn't noticed it before, she'd been focused on checking the bathroom, and then the bedroom. She tried to open the door, but it didn't budge. Locked.

"Alohomora," she mumbled, waving her wand. The door opened with an easy click. Nothing difficult to unlock . . . but why was it locked in the first place?

Lily stepped in to find what looked like an ordinary guest room. It was practically bare, with only a bed, a small dresser, and bedside table in the room. She began to look around, starting with the bedside table. She pulled open the small drawer, and gasped. Eight wands rolled across the wood of the drawer.

"Eight victims," Lily murmured, counting in her head. "Eight wands . . . seven dead bodies. One kidnapped."

A loud thump sounded behind her, making her jump. She spun around, her wand ready. But there was no one there. Just a blank wall. But then another loud but muted thump rang out. Lily scowled as she moved closer. It sounded like it was coming from the bare wall in front of her. Carefully, she reached her hand out to run her fingers over the wallpaper. But then her finger seemed to slip through it. She felt cool wood under her fingers.

She pulled her hand back on a reflex. "A concealment charm." When she removed the charm from the wall, what looked to be a closet door appeared before her. Slowly, she placed her hand on the knob, unsure of what other spells and charms may have been cast.

But nothing happened, so she slowly opened the door, and gasped at what she saw. The body of a young girl, most likely not even twenty. She was bound with a blindfold on. Lily was relieved to see no blood, and that her chest rose and fell with every breath. She was alive!

"Guys, I found the other victim!" Lily yelled out as she leaned down to check on the girl.

"Incarcerous!"

Lily whirled around, but couldn't dodge the spell completely. A tight rope wrapped around ankle, tripping her. She quickly rolled onto her knees, ready to reach for her wand, but stopped when an arm wrapped around her neck, pulling her up, choking her. She struggled against the grip, ignoring the feeling of the wand at the side of her cheek.

"Lily!"

"Don't move!" a high male voice, the voice of the man holding her, shouted. He forced Lily around, and she could see Scorpius and Albus standing at the door, their wands at the ready. While Albus looked completely calm, Lily could see the anger in Scorpius's eyes.

"Put the wand down, Niles," Albus spoke calmly. "You don't want to do that."

"Get back!" Travers hissed.

"You're in enough trouble, Travers," Scorpius pointed out, his voice not showing a hint of his anger. "You hurt her, you'll be in even more trouble."

"But I'll be revered for killing the daughter of the famous Harry Potter," Travers laughed. His laugh was as high and obnoxious as his voice was.

"You kill her and we kill you," Albus stated casually. "Then no one knows what your mission was. No one even knows your name."

"We tell the press that it was just some psycho who killed at whim. No reason," Scorpius added. "No one will respect you for your attempts at purging the world of muggle-borns."

"Mudbloods don't belong in our world!" Travers screamed.

"What about half-bloods?" Albus questioned. Lily noticed the slight movement he made to the left, inching closer. "What about Elena?"

Lily gasped as the grip around her throat tightened. "She's as filthy as her mudblood mother! Protecting her! Pretending like it was ok to be anything but pure!" Travers screamed.

Suddenly they could hear the sound multiple footsteps getting closer. "That's the rest of our team, Travers," Scorpius stated. "It's over. Drop your wand and put your hands in the air. Do that, and no one else gets hurt."

"The world would be better off with her dead. Everyone knows of Potter's mudblood mother," Travers replied, but his voice trembled, as did the arm around her, and the wand at her temple.

"Put down your wand, Travers! It's over!" Brian's voice boomed as he appeared in the doorway, James, Louis, and Hugo following behind him. "You're outnumbered. Let her go!"

Lily only felt his grip tighten, making it even more difficult to breathe. But she could tell that Travers was only focused on the guys now, focused on the six wands pointed at him. Now was her chance. She kicked her foot up between his legs. Travers responded immediately, trying to back up while still holding onto her. Lily reached up to grab his shoulder, and using his own weight against him, flipped him over her body, and onto his back. The air shot from his lungs, his wand rolling away. Lily kicked it across the floor before looking up to the stunned men in the room.

"Lesson number one of being a little sister. Know how to take down boys twice your size."

* * *

Brian sighed as he paced around the waiting room of St. Mungo's. He was waiting for one of the Healers to come and talk to him about the girl they'd found bound in Travers's closet . . . and to hear about Lily. Scorpius had brought her in, but Brian wanted to be able to go back to the Department and tell the team, and her brothers, about her condition.

"Status update, Brian?"

Brian turned to see Harry walking toward him. While he looked casual, Brian recognized the worry and concern in his eyes. Something any father had when their child was hurt.

Brian sighed. "What update do you want first? Lily or the case?"

Harry chuckled. "I'll admit the case _is_ more important, but . . ."

"Lil's probably fine," Brian assured. "I had Scorpius bring her in just to make sure. She had some harsh bruising on her neck and throat after a few minutes. I wanted to be sure it was nothing serious."

He could see his boss's shoulders sag with relief. "And the case? I'm amazed I don't already have a report on my desk, knowing you."

Brian grinned humorlessly. "Well there's a few more things to do. Travers is with the Interrogation Unit now. They're finding out more from him. And I'm waiting to hear from a Healer about the girl we found. Apparently she was a coworker of Whitmore," he explained. "Assuming we get what we need from Travers, I'll have a full report done by tomorrow night. I'll have something for you tonight though."

Harry chuckled. "There's no need, Brian. I think you and the team can take a break for today. Get the information you need, but the entire report can wait until tomorrow. You guys have earned a little break for today."

* * *

"This is stupid," Lily grumbled. "I'm fine!"

Victoire "Weasley" Lupin rolled her eyes at her young cousin. "It's not going to kill you to get checked to be sure," she quipped, examining the bruising on Lily's neck. "It looks like he did a number on you"

"Nothing I can't handle," Lily replied. She wished Rose was the one checking on her. She had a better chance of convincing Rose that she was fine compared to Victoire. But then again, Victoire had been a Healer at St. Mungo's since she'd graduated from Hogwarts years ago, and was one of the best in the hospital. That's why she was the one that looked over their team whenever one of them came in.

Victoire ignored her. "Do you feel lightheaded? Dizzy?"

Lily sighed. She wasn't getting out of this. "No."

"Is it hard to breathe? Does it hurt when you do?"

Lily groaned. "Yeah, but hardly. It's probably just the bruising."

"Does it hurt to talk?" Victoire asked.

"No," Lily answered.

"Good. That sounds like there's no internal damage," Victoire said with a smile. She stood up from the stool she'd sat on. "Wait here, and I'll get a potion to get rid of the bruising."

Scorpius watched as the eldest Weasley cousin left the two of them alone. He turned to look at Lily, who was glaring at him. "What?" he demanded.

"This was really unneeded. I could have healed this at home," she complained.

Scorpius chuckled as he moved his chair closer to the bed she sat on. "It's precautionary, Lil. Besides, it sounds like Vic will let you go once you take that potion."

Lily just crossed her arms and huffed. "I'd rather be with the others and interrogating Travers," she mumbled.

Scorpius smiled at her stubborn nature. But the sight of the bruising made it falter. It really _did_ look gruesome, and it made him loath Travers more than he already did. Even Victoire had said that his grip must have been harsh and painful to leave such marks.

He stood up, and gently ran his fingers over the bruises, being careful not to hurt her. Lily looked at him, but didn't stop him or pull away. "I'm fine," she whispered. "Really."

"We shouldn't have been so careless," he mumbled. "We should have gone in thinking he was hiding as soon as we figured out he lived there."

"Like we could have known the coward was hiding under the guest bed," Lily retorted, although a little irritated. She couldn't believe she let that guy get the jump on her.

"We still shouldn't have split up in there," Scorpius sighed.

Lily raised a brow. "How long are you going to let this beat you up?" she asked softly.

Scorpius smirked. "Only until tomorrow, I promise. I'm allowed one night to worry about my girlfriend, aren't I?"

Lily bit her lip, feeling a bit nervous. "Is that what I am to you?"

Scorpius let his hand fall from her bruises, and stuffed it into his pocket. "I mean . . ." he cleared his throat, obviously nervous too. "I mean, that's what I was hoping you were. Do . . . do you mind?"

Lily sighed, her mind and heart conflicted. And with every second she was silent, she could see the concern on his face. "It's not that I . . . that I don't want that for us. It's just . . . I don't think it'd be good for the team, or our jobs."

Scorpius scowled. "What do you mean?"

Lily brushed her bangs away from her eyes. "Relationships between Aurors rarely work out. Plus, imagine if we fight or breakup. How awkward would that make it for us and the team? And I love being part of this team, and I know you do too. I don't want to ruin that for either of us."

Scorpius took her hands. "Lily, we don't know that's what's going to happen. We haven't even given it a chance. Don't let fears for the future stop us from being happy now," he whispered pleadingly. "The last thing I want to do is regret not taking a chance on us, because I personally think we can not only make it in the long run, I think we can lap the long run several times."

Lily laughed a little at his humor, but still inside she was nervous and uncertain. But the confidence and assurance in his eyes . . . it gave her hope. She took in a small breath before giving him a small smile. "Ok. But . . . we've got to take this one step at a time. No getting ahead of ourselves, no making promises we can't keep. And _no_ letting it interfere with our jobs. Deal?"

Scorpius smiled. "Deal."

Lily gave his hands a squeeze. "Also . . . for now, we might wanna keep this to ourselves."

Scorpius scowled a little. "You don't want to tell your family?"

"Until we're a little more . . . settled and confident in this, I think it would be better if we didn't bring it into our work, which includes telling them. It'll just make it awkward," Lily pointed out. "And if I tell my family, that includes . . . well, _all_ of our team basically."

Scorpius chuckled. "You've got a point. I'd rather not have James kill me over the conference table," he joked lightly.

Lily laughed too. "So, then we'll see how this goes . . . and if it does, we'll tell people then."

Scorpius nodded. "As long as I get to have you with me, it sounds perfect to me."

* * *

"Niles Travers. The only son of Roger and Margaret Travers, and nephew to one of Tom Riddle's most well-known supporters and Death Eaters. Home schooled all his life, and raised under the belief that muggles are abominations, muggle-borns as disgraces, and half-blood wizards as dirtied. He was also under the constant pressure of his family to live up to the fame of his uncle, a well-known Death Eater. This inspired him to begin thinking of ways to eradicate muggle-borns from the wizarding world. And when he heard a coworker of his, a muggle-born, was considering having a baby with a pureblood wizard, he felt that he could no longer wait. This led him to murder Maggie Reinhart, along with six other victims."

The team all sat silently around their conference table when James stopped reading the start of their report on Niles Travers.

"I finally remembered where I heard his name," Scorpius murmured. "My mother and a friend of hers were discussing how old-fashioned the Travers family was, and how they wondered what _little Niles_ was like living in that house. Even the old pureblood families were questioning how the Travers family was raising their son."

"He was raised so strictly that he couldn't bear the thought of a muggle-born conceiving a pureblood man's child," Hugo said as he rubbed at his eyes. "He felt compelled to kill her before that could happen. From then, it was just a spiral downward. Any time he overheard someone being a muggle-born, he felt like he had to kill them."

"We're lucky we caught him when we did," Albus sighed. "It was obvious that killing Elena, who he was planning to marry, had done something to him. The fight between love and duty tore at him, and he felt filthy and horrible for regretting his actions. He would have been much more dangerous if we hadn't caught him so quickly after her murder."

Lily leaned forward on her elbows. "More dangerous than we could have known," she whispered. "One of Sterner's team members brought a report on Elena Rosier after we brought Travers in. Rosier had been to St. Mungo's this last week. She was told she was pregnant. A month through."

They all looked at her somberly as she pushed another filed forward to the middle of the table. "So the stab wounds to her stomach . . ." Louis whispered.

"He was killing his own child," Brian murmured in a low and pained voice.

James ran his hands over his face. "I sometimes think that we've seen the worst of it . . . and every time someone proves me wrong."

"But we did good today," Hugo pointed out. "That girl we rescued. Her name is Gracie Olivers, and she was a muggle-born too. If Travers had found out, she'd be dead. But we caught him before he could. We saved a young girl's life. We just have to remember that even the dark moments have a bit of light."

"And we've brought closure to the families of the victims," Louis murmured. "They can rest easy knowing the man that took their loved ones away has been caught, and won't ever hurt someone again."

Brian ran his fingers through his hair. "Go home. Everyone. Get some rest, come to peace with what we've seen today. We'll meet tomorrow at our normal time. And, James…" James looked to Brian, curious. "I don't want to see you anywhere in this department this weekend, unless it's to talk to your father or siblings about wedding plans. Got it?"

James gave a small grin as they all began to stand from their seats. "You got it. So, tomorrow night, celebrate closing the case as usual?"

"Tomorrow night sounds good to me," Louis agreed.

"I'll be there," Hugo assured.

Brian chuckled. "I might be there for a while. After this, I think I'd like to be there to put my son to bed for a few nights."

"That's fine," Albus assured. "You've earned it, Captain."

* * *

James walked into his flat and immediately smelled something delicious. He glanced at the watch on his wrist, and was surprised to see that it wasn't that late at all. The morning and afternoon had felt like it had lasted forever between catching Travers, interrogating him, and putting together the start of a report.

He looked at the kitchen to see Charity moving around, a pot stirring itself while she seemed to be seasoning something.

James slipped off his shoes and jacket, and made his way over to wrap his arms around her as she worked. "Hey there."

She leaned back into him, but didn't stop what she was doing. "Hey. I didn't expect you home so early."

"We caught the guy," James replied.

At those words, she stopped and turned around in his arms. A smile was tugging at her lips. "So the case is over?"

"And I've been ordered to not show my face in the department this weekend, unless it has to do with wedding plans," James teased.

Charity's smile was bright, and it made him smile in return. But then it fell a little. "Is everyone ok?"

James sighed. "Yeah. Lil . . . the guy grabbed Lily and held a wand to her. But as always, she took care of it all by herself. She was only in the Hospital for an hour or so. She's going to be fine."

He could see the relief in her eyes. "I'll have to make something tomorrow and have you bring it to her. Kind of a _get well_ treat, so to speak."

James chuckled. "I'm sure she'd love that." He looked over the counter. "Now, what kind of treat are you making me?"

* * *

Brian was happy to be home at a normal time. While the living room was empty, he could smell food wafting in from the dining room. He quickly pulled off his shoes and his jacket, and made his way to where he could hear muted voices.

"And then Great-Uncle George told me about how he was fighting off over a hundred bad guys, and that he didn't even know his ear was gone!"

Brian grinned at the sound of his son's eager and excited voice. "I think Uncle George was exaggerating, sweetheart," Lucy said with a laugh of her own.

"Oh, I don't know about that," Brian quipped as he walked into the room. "I think George could take on a hundred men at once."

"Dad!" Sean exclaimed as he jumped from his seat and ran to Brian.

Brian leaned down and lifted his son into the air. "Hey, Sean! How was your day?"

Sean smiled happily, showing the little gap from when he'd lost a tooth a few days ago. "It was fun! Great-Uncle George babysat me while Mum was at work, and he told me all kinds of fun stories!"

Brian smiled as he set his son back down into his seat. "Uncle George, really? What was Grandma Audrey up to?"

Lucy gave him a smile. "My mum had plans with some old friends from school, and I thought he'd love to spend time with Uncle George."

"So, Dad, did you catch the bad guy?" Sean asked eagerly.

"Sean, let your father get a plate first," Lucy interrupted.

But Brian smiled. "Of course we did. And after I get some food, I'll tell you all about how your Aunt Lily beat the bad guy up all by herself."

"Cool!" Sean exclaimed.

But Lucy shot him a worried look. "Lily? Is she ok?"

Brian nodded reassuringly. "She's fine. Just some bruising that's already cleared up. Victoire took care of her." He placed a kiss on his wife's cheek. "Nothing to worry about. I promise."

* * *

Albus changed into something more casual as soon as he and Scorpius returned to their flat. Albus was starving, but thought he'd join his parents for dinner tonight. He didn't have the energy to cook something, and didn't feel like going out. Something about every case they had . . . the facts and the stories behind the criminals, it sucked the energy out of a person.

When he stepped out of his bedroom, he walked down the short hall to see Scorpius slipping on his own shoes. He had obviously showered and cleaned up, but had dressed casually too.

"Where are you off to?" Albus inquired as he grabbed his jacket from the back of an armchair.

Scorpius glanced at him briefly before he began buttoning up his own jacket. "I'm off to the manor. I thought I'd let them know the case was over so that my mother can stop worrying."

Albus chuckled. "I don't think Astoria will stop worrying about you until you're no longer an Auror and are working from behind a desk," he joked.

Scorpius laughed. "You're probably right about that. Still, letting her know will help her sleep a little easier. And you?"

"I'm off to my parents' as well. But only because I'm feeling too tired to make dinner myself," Albus replied.

Scorpius smirked. "That's not a bad idea. Anyways, I'm not sure if I'll be back tonight. I never know how long my mother will keep me at the manor. So in case I don't make it out, I'll see you at the department tomorrow."

"Yeah, see ya," Albus said as his best friend walked out the door. He sighed. Something was off about his friend. He was hiding something. But he just couldn't figure out what it was.

Albus grabbed his keys from where he'd dropped them on the table, but stopped when he saw the mail from this morning. He hadn't checked any of it in his rush to get to work. He looked through it idly. The paper, a letter from a friend, a letter from Hagrid . . .

Albus paused when he found a small, square envelope. Only his name was written on it, and it fit easy in his palm. Despite knowing that he was alone in the flat now, he looked around before opening the envelope. Inside was just a small piece of paper with a short message.

 _"I'll be in town this weekend, and I'd really like to see you. How about Saturday night? If you can make it, I'll be waiting at our usual place."_

Albus felt a smile pull at his lips immediately, and he felt his heart warm in his chest. Looks like he had plans this weekend. Now to figure out an excuse as to why _he_ wouldn't be home.


End file.
